Movie Review: Raabta | Sushant Singh Rajput, Kriti Sanon |

Love needs to no reason they say. The makers of Raabta, a story about undying love, seem to have taken that quite seriously.

It is no secret that Raabta is about reincarnation and love. The first lifetime is set around 800 years ago in an island called Pather Ghat. The second is in present-day Budapest where Sushant Singh Rajput’s Shiv has got a job in a bank. He is a lady-killer and on one of his ‘expeditions’, he meets a beautiful chocolate maker Saira, played by Kriti Sanon. Soon enough they find themselves in bed, attracted towards each other by an inexplicable chemistry. And even sooner they have their past revisiting them in form of Zakir (Jim Sarbh).

The good thing about Raabta is that it rides of humour for the entire first half till we find something sinister is coming up. So you will see Sushant Singh Rajput try his best to pull of a Shah Rukh Khan act, which is fine because you will actually be laughing through it… the humour is important because it keeps you from asking those uncomfortable questions for quite some time.

As the story moves to the past life and the humour dries up, you might start asking those questions. And then it is a Pandora’s Box, springing out a mystery every few minutes.

Much of Raabta is built on the characters of Saira and Sahiba, both played by Kriti Sanon. It is her life’s choices that bring about the turn of events in both the lifetimes. It is her weird ability, often comical, to fall in love with a man for no plausible reason that holds Raabta together, however loosely that may be. In the present day she kisses a stalker with whom she feels some ‘connection’ and in the past life, she falls for an enemy for even more absurd a reason.

Kriti, of course, puts in her best, trying to overcome the faults in her characters. She looks adorable for most parts. And so does Sushant, despite his SRK act. He puts forward something new for the past life character, which is called Jilaan. It is, however, Jim Sarbh who takes away the cake. The actor who had debuted as a terrorist in Neerja shows his ability to transform into different characters. He uses body language pretty well. Varun Sharma is stuck to the ‘friend zone’, does nothing new.

Among the highlight of the film is the way it has been shot. This is Dinesh Vijan’s first film as a director and he seems to have pooled in a good team. Czech cinematographer Martin Preiss provides grandeur to his shots. Good among of work has also gone into makeup and prosthetics for the past life. The best being Rajkummar Rao’s cameo as a very old man. It’s a different matter that there was no reason why an actor like Rajkummar is used for the role, which could have been done by just about anyone.

In any case, reason and Raabta does not quite get along. If you are one of those viewers who cannot beat the compulsive to ask for rationale, you might as well skip this film. Raabta is all hearts. It works for the people who put the heart before the brain, emotions before logic. Raabta will also work for the hardcore fans of Sushant and Kriti, for they have indeed put in their best.

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